20070218

Canadians backing Glen Breton with dollars

Canadian scotch whisky drinkers are rallying to support their own.

Glenora Distillery, the Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, manufacturer of Canada's only native single malt whisky, is the target of the Scotch Whisky Association. As I reported recently, the Scotland-based SWA is trying all sorts of legal maneuvers to get the distiller to stop using the word "Glen" in its various Glen Breton whiskies.

When the Canadian Trademark Commission ruled recently that Glenora could retain the name, consumers flocked to the stores to buy Glen Breton Ice, which gets some of its special flavors from being aged in used ice wine barrels. (The company also makes another type of scotch called Glen Breton Rare.)

The first Glen Breton Ice release sold out in two weeks, so the Glenora Distillery is releasing a second limited bottling.

"It’s been phenomenal. We haven’t been able to keep up to it," Glenora president Lauchie MacLean told The Canadian Press. "Jost Wineries, who we’re dealing with, is trying to age more product so we can have access to more casks."

Glen Breton is available only at selected Nova Scotia Liquor Commission retail outlets — 60 cases have been set aside for sale in the province — but the company said some will be shipped to Poland and Belgium, with orders pending for the United States and Sweden and it expects to be shipping to Asia by April.

The consumer support is particularly intefresting, given the high price of $49.95 for a 250-millilitre bottle.

"The price point is not for the faint of heart," MacLean told the CP. "It’s expensive, but it’s extremely rare. ... The proof will be in the pudding if the buyers who bought it once will buy it a second or third time. Then we’ll really know if we have a winning product."